This is the second time someone has had chickenpox. Chickenpox a second time is an exceptional case. What is important to know

Chickenpox is a dangerous viral infection. The disease usually affects children aged 2-10 years. Infants, adolescents and adult patients suffer from chickenpox much more severely than patients in the main risk group. People facing a severe form of infection ask their doctor whether it is possible to get chickenpox a second time.

Is re-infection possible?

The majority of patients who have had chickenpox develop stable immunity to the infectious agent. For the rest of its life, protective cells protect the body from negative impact Varicella Zoster virus. Antibodies block activity pathogenic microorganisms, which prevents re-infection. But in some people, the defense mechanisms fail, which leads to recurrent chickenpox. This phenomenon occurs in 1-3% of patients who have had an infection in childhood. The disease is accompanied by symptoms that are identical to those of primary chickenpox.

You can get chickenpox after 25 years of age. But sometimes it happens that teenagers become infected again. This is due to the fact that when weak immunity antibodies lose memory. They completely stop protecting the body from the virus approximately 10 years after the initial defeat.

A person can get chickenpox not 2, but several times. When memory cells are no longer retained after a second infection, the herpes virus infection may recur.

Reasons for re-infection

Weakened immunity is the main reason for re-infection with the herpes virus Varicella Zoster. The likelihood of chickenpox increases:

• If protective forces a child or adult does not provide adequate resistance to infectious agents;
• when the concentration of antibodies in the blood is excessively low.

The second time you can get chickenpox:

• HIV-infected;
• child or adult patient with cancerous tumor during chemotherapy;
• person who suffered serious disease or surgery;
• patients with chronic pathologies;
• those who are susceptible to stress and depression;
• children and adults taking medications that weaken the immune system for a long period of time;
• people who have lost a significant amount of blood, donors.

Misdiagnosis when symptoms first appear is another reason for a second case of chickenpox. This disease is determined by external signs. Patients are not prescribed any tests to identify the pathogen, which sometimes leads to diagnosis misdiagnosis. The doctor mistakes another infection with similar symptoms (high fever and skin rashes) for chickenpox.

Symptoms

First, with secondary chickenpox, nonspecific symptoms develop. Patients who are sick experience the following symptoms:

As the chickenpox arise skin rashes. The lesions the second time are less extensive than in the first case. New blisters form within 2-7 days. Although, if you get chickenpox again, the rash may go away in one wave.

Tiny red spots appear first. After a few hours, the rashes turn into papules that look like mosquito bites. Subsequently, single-chamber vesicles appear in place of small swellings. The cavity of the blisters is filled with clear or cloudy exudate. The rashes are unbearably itchy.

A child or adult experiences discomfort. Patients scratch the lesions. In place of the opened blisters, ulcers remain, covered with a crust. The formations gradually dry out and peel off. Skin are cleaned, no defects remain on them.

If you get chickenpox twice, the process of transforming the red spot into a dry sore takes from 24 to 48 hours. The skin is completely cleared of rashes in 15-20 days.

Path of infection

The exudate filling the blister cavity contains great amount infectious agents. After opening the papule, herpes viruses instantly spread through the air. The infectious agent is easily transmitted to healthy people who come into contact with an infected person. Pathogens enter the mucous layer of the nasopharynx and spread throughout the body through the bloodstream.

Herpes zoster is a type of chickenpox

In a person who has had chickenpox, the herpes virus penetrates the nerve endings, attaches itself to the cells, and goes into a dormant state. Activation of the pathogen occurs in people with weakened immunity after 40 years. Their chickenpox develops in the form of herpes zoster.

Since both pathologies are caused by the same type of pathogen, doctors say that the patient was able to become infected with chickenpox again. With shingles, rashes appear on the skin. Epithelial tissue the affected area itches, hurts a lot, and burns unbearably.

Ringworm differs from chickenpox in that the rashes are localized in one place and are not distributed throughout the body. Papules may only cover the side, arm, or leg. Pimples are arranged in a chain.

Shingles, like chickenpox, is a contagious infection. Pathology is easily transmitted to healthy people by airborne droplets. You can get shingles more than just once or twice. The infection can affect the body many times. Moreover, people who have had chickenpox twice become infected with the virus.

Patients are prescribed symptomatic treatment. No specific therapy for chickenpox and herpes zoster is not provided. Manifestations of infection disappear within 14-20 days.

In patients with chickenpox, very bad feeling. They experience severe discomfort, pain and itching caused by unsightly sores on the face and body. To avoid getting sick again, you need to strengthen your immune system, eat rationally, and avoid contact with infected people.

Pink itchy blistering rashes along the nerves on one side of the neck, back or between the ribs, body aches and even sharp pain- all this may be a sign of shingles. Although herpes zoster sounds more pleasant (this is also how this disease can be called).

Shingles is brother the bad old chicken pox. Moreover, the brother is very modest and secretive. After a person has had chickenpox, the virus can wait for decades to emerge. He lives peacefully in the area nerve endings, in the hope that one day a person’s immunity will weaken, a series of stresses will come in his life and become more active chronic diseases. And this is where shingles puts a knife in the back, sneakily making itself felt with unpleasant symptoms.

Is it contagious?

Yes. Anyone who has not yet had chickenpox is at risk. Because you can get chickenpox from a patient with herpes zoster. Not herpes zoster, that's important.

You should refrain from communicating with infants, pregnant women and HIV-infected people for three, or even six weeks - until complete recovery.

How to protect yourself?

To avoid having to deal with either chickenpox or shingles, it is best to get vaccinated. Only a vaccine can protect your body from this unpleasant virus.

If you do not have a vaccination, and you have already had chickenpox, try to avoid healthy image life, maintain immunity: exercise, eat well.

Is this treatable?

Doctors have a joke that all diseases are divided into two types: some go away on their own, while others cannot be treated. So, shingles is just from the first category - it goes away on its own. However, you need to see a doctor! Can be unpleasant consequences in the form of damage to the nervous system.

If you suffer from pain and itching, acyclovir may be prescribed. antihistamines, soothing compresses, antiseptic. Doctors also recommend wearing comfortable clothes that do not irritate the skin. There is no need to smear this “good” with brilliant green.

Varicella, commonly called "chickenpox" is infection, caused by the Varicella Zostor virus of the herpes virus family. This infection is transmitted by airborne droplets or through household items. The source of the disease is an infected person.

In some cases, for the first few days, the carrier of the infection may not be aware that he is spreading chickenpox, because he only feels a general malaise in the body and fatigue. Loss or decreased appetite may also occur. The incubation period after infection can last from one week to three. The first signal that a person has contracted chickenpox is a characteristic rash that covers the entire body and causes itching.

There is no complete cure for the virus that causes chickenpox. It can only be drowned out. Treatment involves relieving symptoms or the severity of the disease until the immune system produces the necessary antibodies to fight the virus.

Most often, chickenpox is contracted in childhood, as the virus is extremely contagious. The disease in children under seven years of age occurs in more than mild form and much faster than in adults. Their illness progresses slowly, severely and can lead to serious complications.

Scientists have still not agreed on the possibility of reinfection with chickenpox.

• Some people believe that it is impossible to get chickenpox twice. And diagnoses confirming otherwise are erroneous. Some diseases caused by the herpes virus are initially very similar to chickenpox. There are differences in the rashes of these diseases, but they can be almost invisible. The result is an error in diagnosis.
• Other scientists and doctors mistake shingles for a secondary infection with chickenpox. They believe that the causative agent of these infections is the same, therefore, the disease is the same, they just manifest themselves a little differently.

So, let's take into account that there is still a possibility of getting chickenpox a second time. Who is at risk in this case and who is more likely to get secondary infection? The answer is simple.

Anyone who, for one reason or another, has a reduced immune system, namely:

• people infected with HIV;
• cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy; those who are experiencing severe stress;
• people who have suffered serious illnesses, weakened long-term use medications or having chronic diseases;
• pregnant women;
• people who donate blood regularly or who have lost a lot of blood after some incident.

• The causative agent of chickenpox remains in the human body for the rest of his life after the first time he suffered the disease.
• Repeatedly, the patient becomes ill with herpes zoster, which is a type of chickenpox and is caused by the same pathogen.
• Shingles is the development of an exacerbation caused by any provoking factors that lower immunity and force the “dormant” virus to “wake up”.
• If the disease is repeated, then it is very difficult with possible complications.
• If characteristic rashes appear during pregnancy, this can cause congenital pathologies fetus In this case, it is recommended to terminate the pregnancy in the first trimester.

Although the symptoms of the disease are more pronounced and severe the second time, the treatment is practically no different from what was used the first time.

First of all, to stabilize the patient’s condition, it is necessary to reduce the temperature with antipyretic drugs. It rises very strongly during secondary infection with chickenpox.

Itching is relieved with antihistamines and sedatives. For the treatment of chickenpox are also taken antiviral drugs. The patient should follow a diet and diet, refrain from spicy and salty foods.

Water procedures are permitted if the patient’s condition has stabilized and the temperature has decreased. The time spent in the shower should be reduced to a minimum. The use of washcloths and sponges is prohibited.

A solution of brilliant green (“zelenka”) in this case plays the role of a marker and helps to monitor the development of the disease, in particular, skin rashes.

Summarizing all of the above, we can say that most experts agree that this is possible. But this will no longer be the disease itself - chicken pox, but its close relative - herpes zoster, which is considered a reaction to an exacerbation and decrease in immunity. This is explained by the fact that the virus that causes chickenpox can settle in the human body only once. The immune system forms antibodies against this disease once and for all, muting the disease.

You can protect yourself from getting sick again if you worry about your health, eat right, and saturate your body with everything essential vitamins and minerals. Good immunity will not allow the virus to “wake up” and cause new “disorders” in the body.

Is it possible to get chickenpox again? — Doctor Komarovsky (video)

7 COMMENTS

I heard that people who had chickenpox in early childhood and in a mild form can still become infected again. I agree about the symptoms of herpes, there are very similar symptoms, but usually herpes breaks out in a specific area, and not all over the body. Even if it is possible to get sick again, I don’t think that we can somehow protect ourselves from this; after all, the virus is transmitted by airborne droplets.

Almost all people have had chickenpox in early childhood. There is an opinion that adults tolerate chickenpox much worse than children. Is this so, it is better to ask the doctors. And about re-infection with this disease, the doctors themselves cannot really say anything.

Chickenpox in adults is a very real thing today. There are many reasons why adults get this disease. The main one, in my opinion, is the deterioration of the environmental situation and, as a result, a decrease in people’s immunity. Every 10th case of the disease is in adults.

Now no one can answer this question. This requires conducting fairly detailed surveys of the population and medical personnel. Chickenpox, like any other disease, can develop over time various reasons. Therefore, the question of recurrent illness is quite natural.

Yes, it is indeed possible to get chickenpox a second time, albeit in a slightly different form, and parents in whose families have many small children know this firsthand. And the way out of this situation is quite standard, you definitely need to get vaccinated against this disease and strengthen your immunity proper nutrition, vitamin complexes and the normal rhythm of life.

I have repeatedly heard that people who have had chickenpox can become infected again over time. In my opinion, this is due to the fact that the virus mutates and changes, so the immunity that was previously developed becomes irrelevant.

As a child, I had chickenpox at age two and four. And now I’m 34 and my daughter contracted chickenpox at school, infecting my son and, accordingly, me... I couldn’t believe my eyes when I realized that I was sick. It was terrible! And what a shock my mother was in.

Chicken pox or chickenpox is an acute infectious disease that is transmitted by airborne droplets.

In most cases, after suffering from it, a person develops special antibodies that give the body lifelong protection against such a disease.

Despite this, many people wonder whether it is possible to get chickenpox a second time and how this will affect their health. Let's consider this question in details.

Is it possible to get chickenpox a second time: how does infection occur?

Chickenpox is transmitted from a sick person to a healthy person during normal communication, that is, by airborne droplets. In this case, it is enough to inhale even a microscopic part of the saliva of an infected person to get sick yourself, since this biological fluid contains a large number of viral cells.

Furthermore To finally catch the virus, it is enough to spend time with a sick person in the same indoors about five minutes.

You can also become infected with chickenpox by accidentally touching skin rash patient (especially fluid secreted from acne), which, when acute course diseases cover the entire surface of the human body.

Is it really possible to get chickenpox a second time: etiology of the disease

If a person is healthy and has strong immunity, then he will only get chickenpox once. Cases of repeated transmission of this virus are quite rare, but they do exist.

People who are most likely to become re-infected the immune system weakened. This may happen after long illness, HIV infection, undergone surgery, pregnancy or depressive states.

As practice shows, most often young people between the ages of sixteen and twenty-five get chickenpox for the second time, but there are cases of the virus being transferred to an older age. At the same time, it is important to know what older man the more severely he suffers from chickenpox (he may experience acute symptoms and develop sharp deterioration in good health).

How can you get chickenpox a second time: features of the disease and treatment

Secondary chickenpox usually occurs a little differently than primary chickenpox. In this state, a person can observe the appearance of the following symptoms and sensations:

1. Weakness.

2. Headaches.

3. The appearance of red blisters on the skin different sizes which can itch and hurt. Gradually, pus may accumulate in these formations.

4. The localization of the rash may vary, but most often pimples appear on the stomach, upper back, face and inside arms and legs. Moreover, if the patient constantly scratches the blisters, they can spread throughout the body.

5. Strong increase body temperature.

6. Fever.

7. Lethargy.

8. Apathy.

9. Abdominal pain.

10. Gradually developing burning sensation on the skin.

Treatment of recurrent chickenpox has the following features:

1. First of all, the patient must be isolated from visiting crowded places so that the disease is not transmitted to anyone else. Usually incubation period last from two to three weeks. After this point, chickenpox is no longer contagious.

2. When high temperature it can be reduced with antipyretic drugs (Paracetamol).

3. To relieve itching you can use antihistamine ointments And oral tablets.

4. The patient should drink plenty of fluids and teas so that the body can fight the infection.

5. Pimples can be lubricated with antipruritic ointments (it is not advisable to use brilliant green or iodine).

6. Usually, with chickenpox, a person can cope with it at home, but if complications arise, it is better to play it safe and stay in the hospital under medical supervision. This is especially true for the elderly, pregnant women, children and people with chronic diseases.

7. It is important to know, that you should not scratch the blisters, since this can not only cause infection, but also further provoke the rash to spread throughout the body.

8. If the blisters become suppurated, the patient must be prescribed antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs.

Further treatment chickenpox is carried out based on the observed symptoms. At the same time, it is worth remembering that you should take it yourself (without a doctor’s prescription). medicines may be hazardous to health.

Is it possible to get chickenpox a second time: possible complications

Repeated infection with the varicella zoster virus is, first of all, dangerous due to the risk of developing serious complications.

The following groups of people are most susceptible to them:

People suffering from drug addiction and alcoholism;

People with weakened immune systems;

Pregnant women;

People suffering from asthma diabetes mellitus and other chronic diseases;

Smokers.

Most often, with secondary chickenpox the following complications develop:

1. Inflammation and suppuration of soft tissues and skin. The reason for this is infection getting into the wounds when scratching them. with dirty hands. Reveal this complication possible by the following criteria:

The appearance of large bright red blisters on the skin;

Appearance under top layer skin abscesses;

Flow of yellow pus from itchy wounds;

Swelling of the affected skin;

Sharp rise body temperature;

Pain on the skin when palpated.

2. The development of severe pneumonia is observed in 15% of patients with chickenpox who experience it for the second time.

The great danger of pneumonia is that it is usually asymptomatic, so it is detected in an already advanced state. It can be diagnosed using chest x-ray.

To prevent the development of severe pneumonia, you should pay attention in time to the occurrence of such symptoms during acute chickenpox:

An increase in body temperature that occurs even after the rash has begun to subside;

The appearance of a dry cough accompanied by chest pain;

Shortness of breath;

Difficulty breathing;

Severe weakness.

In this condition, the patient must be urgently hospitalized.

3. Development severe inflammation in the joints (osteomyelitis or arthritis) – this is quite rare complication, which can occur in older people who have chickenpox for the second time.

Signs of such a complication are:

Joint pain when walking and palpating;

Swelling of the limbs;

Redness of the joints;

Body pain at night and after physical activity.

4. Severe damage to the structure of the brain or inflammation of its soft tissues. This complication can be identified by the following symptoms:

Fainting or loss of consciousness of the patient;

Frequent headaches and migraines;

Memory impairment;

Convulsions;

Impaired gait or gait;

Impaired coordination of movements.

In this condition, a person’s life will depend on the speed of hospitalization and the start of treatment.

5. Impaired eye function is usually accompanied by the following symptoms:

Appearance bright spots before your eyes;

Inability to look around without turning your head;

Development of strabismus;

Severe burning sensation and pain in the eyes;

Feeling foreign body In eyes.

6. Defeat of cardio-vascular system(chickenpox can cause myocarditis, tachycardia or arrhythmia).

7. Damage to the kidneys and liver.

Separately, it should be said about the danger of chickenpox for pregnant women whose pregnancy has not yet reached twelve weeks. In this condition, the disease can provoke a miscarriage, intrauterine fetal death, or the appearance of pathologies in the unborn child.

Is it possible to get chickenpox a second time: prevention measures

To protect yourself from re-infection with chickenpox, you should follow these recommendations:

1. Do not be in the same room with an infected person or wear a protective mask.

2. Take vitamins to maintain immunity. Any special medical supplies There is no protection against chickenpox.

3. If there is a person in the family with chickenpox, then it is necessary to quartz the rooms to reduce the risk of infection healthy people.

4. It is necessary to maintain good hygiene in the house. All washing products, as well as dishes, must be individualized if there is a person with chickenpox in the house.

5. It is worth washing a sick person’s clothes separately, especially if there are small children in the family.

6. You need to eat a balanced diet to prevent a decrease in immunity.

7. You should stop smoking and drinking alcoholic drinks, as they have a bad effect on human health.

It is a highly contagious infection that most often occurs in childhood. Most cases of this disease occur in children aged 2 to 7-10 years, since their susceptibility to the causative agent of chickenpox (Varicella Zoster virus) is the highest. However, such an infection occurs in infants, adolescents, and adults. And the older a person is, the more dangerous chickenpox is for his health.

As a rule, children tolerate chickenpox easily, and the moderate form is less common. Many children experience slight deterioration general state, body temperature rises to 37-38 degrees, and the rash is represented by only one wave and a small amount bubbles. In such a situation, every mother wonders whether it is possible to get chickenpox a second time.

Is it possible to get infected again?

Most children who have had chickenpox develop a strong immunity that remains for the rest of their lives. Antibodies formed during the acute phase of infection protect the child from subsequent infection. This is why many people believe that they only get chickenpox once in a lifetime.

However, in in rare cases the disease recurs, and the child can get sick twice. In 1-3% of people who were ill in childhood, all the symptoms of chickenpox appear, which forces them to recognize re-infection.

Re-infection with chickenpox is very rare.

Komarovsky's opinion

A well-known pediatrician confirms that recurrent chickenpox, although rare, does occur. He has encountered such cases in his own practice and notes that the second chickenpox most often occurs in a mild form.

For more information about this, see Dr. Komarovsky’s program.

Causes of recurrent chickenpox

Most common reason, which causes a second infection with the Varicella Zoster virus, is represented by reduced immunity. If the body of a child or adult is unable to fight the pathogen and the number of antibodies in the blood decreases, the risk of a second chickenpox increases.

That is why re-infection possible at:

• Children with HIV infection.
• Children and adults with cancer and chemotherapy.
• Children who have suffered a serious illness.
• Children with chronic pathologies.
• Children who have been taking medications for a long time that have weakened their body.
• Children who have experienced significant blood loss, as well as adult donors.

Another reason for the appearance of “repeated” chickenpox is misdiagnosis In the first case.

Since chickenpox is often diagnosed only on the basis of an external examination, and confirmation of the correctness of such diagnosis is not carried out by tests, there are cases when the doctor makes a mistake and mistakes another infection that occurs with a rash and fever for chickenpox.

Secondary infection occurs with very weak immunity

Chickenpox symptoms

As with the first infection, the disease begins with nonspecific signs, which include a sore throat, headache, weakness and similar symptoms. Then the child’s temperature rises, although it may remain within normal limits. General health getting worse.

On the same or the next day, a rash forms on the child's skin. Its prevalence may be inferior to the number of rashes during the first illness. New blisters appear within two to seven days, but sometimes the rash is limited to one “wave.”

At first they look like small red spots, which after a few hours become papules (such elements of the rash are very similar to mosquito bites), and then quickly transform into single-chamber bubbles with clear or cloudy liquid. This rash is quite itchy and causes discomfort to the child.

Such pimples soon burst, and crusts form on the emerging ulcers. Over time, they dry out and fall off, leaving no traces (if you don't comb them). From the moment a spot appears on the skin until a crust forms, it takes an average of 1-2 days, and complete cleansing skin peeling off occurs within two to three weeks.

At re-infection With chickenpox, the course of the disease is the same, but the rash may already be less profuse

Differences from measles

Like chickenpox, measles is viral infection, which occurs in childhood and is transmitted by airborne droplets. Both pathologies occur with an increase in body temperature and the appearance of a rash. Another similarity between chickenpox and measles is the formation of lifelong immunity. This is where the similarity between these two childhood infections ends.

Main differences:

Chickenpox before the age of 10 years is usually easily tolerated

Measles is visually different from chickenpox and is much more severely transmitted

Shingles

As you know, after chickenpox, the virus does not leave the human body, but remains in nerve roots. Over the age of 40, in 15% of people, the virus becomes active and becomes the cause of a disease called herpes zoster or shingles. Since the causative agent is the same as chickenpox, some call this disease the second chickenpox.

Shingles begins with pain, burning and itching in the area where the rash soon appears. The difference between this type of infection caused by the Varicella Zoster virus is that only one area of ​​the body is affected, for example, pimples cover only the side of the body.

With shingles, a person is the source of the virus and can transmit it to people who have not previously had chickenpox. Treatment of this pathology, like chickenpox, is only symptomatic. The disease goes away within two to three weeks.

Shingles is possible as secondary manifestation herpesvirus, the same pathogen as chickenpox